REGION: Wine Country seeks a vision

Survey suggests vineyard and winery owners want to enhance and promote character of the area

Restricting residential growth, encouraging agriculture and
promoting a wine-growing identity are emerging as key goals based
on a survey asking how Temecula's Wine Country should develop.

Restricting commercial development and attracting visitors also
ranked high in the "Wine Country Vision 2020" survey, commissioned
by Riverside County and area winegrowers association.

Almost 300 vineyard, winery and business owners and residents
completed the surveys, which will help the county and winegrowers
determine a vision for what the area should become by 2020.

One idea for changing road names to promote the area's heritage
---- Calle Contento could perhaps become Calle Chardonnay ---- was
rated neutral/not important by many responders, county officials
said.

In addition to specific questions about sidewalks, parking,
sewer service ---- all of which called for answers ranging over
five grades from "very important" to "not important" ---- the
survey also asked two open questions:

-- What is your vision for Wine Country in 2020?

-- Is there any other important item that needs to be addressed
for realizing this vision?

County planning officials say it will take about a week to
organize and analyze all the responses to the survey.

For wine-grape growers, the survey is important. Wine grape
production in the county generated $4.5 million last year, up 12
percent from previous year, according to the county agricultural
commissioner. That's tiny compared with production in the state's
better-known winegrape-growing areas such as Napa Valley, which
valued its total output last year at $4.1 billion.

Nevertheless, Wine Country's products are winning accolades in
the arenas that count ---- wine competitions. Last month, South
Coast Winery won the state winery-of-the-year competition, put on
annually by the California State Fair. It was the second win in a
row for South Coast.

"That's a huge one, a very big honor," said Peggy Evans,
executive director of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association.
"It helps us put Temecula on the map."

South Coast, Falkner Winery and Callaway Vineyard & Winery
also won "best of class" awards in a competition last week that was
open to all wineries in Southern California.

Few question that Wine Country must grow if it is to become more
viable economically, a tourist destination and a location name in
the ultra-competitive wine business.

But how big?

Expanding Wine Country to about 50 wineries from the current
total of 37 would give the area enough size to be noticed, said
Bill Wilson, president of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers
Association and part of the family that owns Wilson Creek
Winery.

Supervisor Jeff Stone has a grander view ---- he envisions 100
wineries in the area, which generally takes in about 30,000 acres
east of Temecula. About 30 Wine Country projects are in the
proposal phase with the Riverside County Planning Department.